UNITED NATIONS, January 31 (InnerCityPro.com) -- After Ukraine's Ambassador Yelchenko told Inner City Press on January 31 that new Secretary General Antonio Guterres is more interested in the Ukrainian conflict than his predecessor Ban Ki-moon, Ban's holdover spokesman now representing Guterres used an "answer to correspondents" on the topic, then the UN Security Council:
In response to questions today on Ukraine, the Spokesman had the following to say:
We are deeply concerned about the escalation of fighting in the Avdiivka-Yasynuvata-Donetsk airport area in eastern Ukraine, which has reportedly led to a number of casualties in recent days. The fate of civilians caught in the conflict zones is particularly worrying. The increased violence is a direct violation of the Minsk Agreements.
We call on all parties to immediately halt all hostilities, fully observe the ceasefire, allow immediate and unhindered humanitarian access for international humanitarian organisations to the affected population, facilitate full and safe access to the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to report on the situation on the ground, and renew efforts towards the peaceful settlement of the conflict. The UN strongly supports the efforts of the OSCE Chairmanship, the Trilateral Contact Group, the Normandy Four and other relevant actors in that context.
New York, 31 January 2017
and
The members of the Security Council expressed their full support of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and underlined the need for strict compliance with Resolution 2202 (2015), which endorsed the “Package of measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements”.
The members of the Security Council called for an immediate return to aceasefire regime.
31 January 2017